The President of the Republic, Mr Wavel Ramkalawan assented to the Civil Code of Seychelles Act 2020 during a ceremony held at State House this morning. The signature was witnessed by the Attorney General, Mr Frank Ally and in the absence of the Chairperson of the Civil Codes Revision Committee, Dr. Mathilda Twomey was the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, Honourable Bernard Georges.

Prior to the signing of the Act, Mr Kieran Shah a member of the Civil Codes Revision Committee, delivered a short address retracing their journey. He acknowledged the various assistance and support received by the committee over the years in order to ensure the end product assented to today, is a comprehensive code made in Seychelles, by Seychelles Jurists and made for Seychelles.  “A novelty of the Civil Code of Seychelles 2020 created one body of laws, setting out everything that a person can do and be responsible for from birth to death, namely, in a nutshell, the person’s right as a child and adult, marriage and divorce, purchase and sale of property rights and obligations, right to distribute property by testament and succession upon death” said Mr Shah.

President Ramkalawan, in his address thanked the committee and the Attorney General for their devotion and the enormous efforts placed on the amendment of the code and expressed how honoured he is to have signed the Civil Code of Seychelles into law today. Particularly not only due it being the first piece of legislation that he assents to since during his Presidency but also for the fact that during his time as a member of the National Assembly along with the other members debated lengthily and made numerous contributions on the legislation.

Speaking to the press after the ceremony, Honourable Georges in his capacity as the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, said the revision of the code was necessary as the existing code had been drafted in France 200 years ago and the first major revision was in 1976 when it was translated into English and updated hence the need for a comprehensive revision of the code was crucial.

Also present for the ceremony at State House, was the First Lady, Mrs Linda Ramkalawan, the Vice-President, Mr Ahmed Afif, Speaker of the National Assembly, Honourable. Roger Mancienne, the President of the Court of Appeal, Mr Anthony Fernando, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice. Rony Govinden, the Leader of the Opposition, Honourable, Sebastien Pillay, the Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly, Honourable, Bernard George,  the Attorney General, Mr Frank Ally, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Honourable. Gervais Henrie, Members of the Civil Codes Revision Committee and other distinguished guests.